Method of making bath and basin stoppers.



No. 837,679. PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906. H. G. PRESHOUR.

METHOD OF MAKING BATH AND BASIN STOPPERS. APPLICATION FILED SBPT.12, 190s.

wa'lv WITNESSES ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. FRESHOUR, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE H. O. CANFIELD COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPO- RATION OF CONNECTICUT.

7 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.

Application filed September 12,1906. Serial No. 384,276.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. FREsHoUR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Method of Making Bath and Basin Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of stoppers for bath-tubs, basins, &c., said stoppers comprising elastic bodies which are usually formedof a rubber compound, a stud being employed to enable the body to be attached to a chain.

The demands of the trade require that the studs shall be plated; but heretofore difiiculty has been experienced in making en-. tirely satisfactory stud-stoppers for several reasons. For instance, when the plastic body is molded with a cavit and one end of the stud afterward pushe into the cavity the permanency of the connection is not certain. The stud is liable to be pulled out of the body. When the plastic body is formed with a hole extending completely through it and one end of the stud then passed through the aperture and secured by awasher and screw or by heading down the end of the stud, there is always liable to be some leakage around the stud, becausethe body of the stud is nowhere continuous transversely.- Another objection to this latter form of stop- -per is the increased expense of the washer or screw or'the cost of the operation of heading down the end of the stud.

A difiiculty that has presented itself to molding the body of plastic material directl on and around the stud has been the liabi ity and almost certainty of ruining the plating of the projecting'end of the stud by the rubber compound being forced down over said end in-the mold.

By my present invention 1 am able to manufacture a perfectl satisfactory stopper comprising a plate stud having one end firm y and permanently embedded and an chored in the rubber compound body without passing through it and withthe plating of the projecting end of the stud entirely unimpaired. This result I accomplish by the molding process which T shall now describe,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one way of carrying out my method by means of a sing e;

cavity mold it being understood, of course,

that the mold-members may have such area and as many cavities as may be desired.

In the accompan ing drawings, forming a part of this specidbatiom. Figure 1 represents a section through the mold members on line 1 1 of Fig. 2, a molded stopper being shown in the single cavity of the mold; Fig. 2, a plan view, a portion of the upper member of the mold being broken out and a stud being indicated in its seat in the lower end of the mold and ready to have the rubber compound ap lied thereto; and Fig; 3 represents a sectiona View of a completed stopper on a larger scale than the other figures.

Similar reference characters indicate the same or similar parts in all the views.

The mold comprises three members. Of these the lower or base member 10 is formed with a pocket or recess 11 to receive the end of the stud that constitutes the projecting portion or earof the completed stopper. Preferably this recess extends entirely through the base member. The intermediate member 12 is formed with a cavity orchamber 13, the Walls of which will be of any form preferred, according to the shape that is to be possessed bythe eriphery of the completed stopper-body. he top member 14 serves as the cover, so that when the whole is placed in the usual heated ress the mass of rubber compound that has een placed in the chamber or cavity will be pressed and vulcanized to the requisite degree. Suitable dowel-pins 15 are employed to insure proper registration of the members of the mold when assembled. In carrying out my improved process it is preferable that the stopper be molded while in an inverted position-that is, a position the reverse of that which it will occupy in use; The reason for this will be presently explained.

he stud is indicated at 16 and is in ractice of suitable nickel-plated metal. t is formed with an enlargement 17 at one end to serve as an anchor to prevent the possibility of the stud being pulled out from the elastic body. Said enlargement may be of any preferreddorm. The other. end of the stud is formed with a transverse hole 18, which I6- ceives the usual ring for connection to a chain. The stud is also formed witha flange rying out my improved process. The terms upper end and .lower end of the stud as hereinafter used refer to relative positions as the stud is used (the position indicated in I moved, a stud 16 is placed with its upper end .on its seat.

in the recess 11 of the mold member 10, said stud dropping to position so that its flange 19 effectually closes or completely seals the end of the pocket or. recess like a valve closing In fact, the coacting faces of the flange 19 and the end of the recess 11 are in ractice shaped somewhat" like a common form of valve and valve-seat, as indicated in Fig. ,1. When the upper end of the stud has been placed as described, its lower end, with the anchoring enlargement 17, projects into the cavity or chamber 13 of the intermediate mold member. A mass of plastic compound is then placed in said chamber 13 and the cover 14 put in place, and the mold is then put in the usual heated press and subjected to the necessary pressure, so that the plastic material will be forced in all directions, it being understood, of course, that the size of the mass placed in the chamber will be slightly in excess of the capacity of the chamber surrounding the stud. The pressure forces the slight excess of material through such crevices as Willpermit it to pass; but the valvelike operation of the flange 19 completely prevents any of the material from getting access to the end of the stud that is located in the pocket or recess 11, and therefore the plating of said end, which is the exposed end when the stopper is in use, is unimpaired.-

At the same time the stud is firmly anchored in the plastic body, and 'said body has no perforati'on extending through it to detract from its usefulness as a'stopper, the elastic body presenting a continuous obstruction to the passage of water.

During the assembling of the parts and the compression of the members of the mold and the vulcanizing of the body the crevices between the members of the mold provide for the escape of air and gases.

Afterthe mold has remained in the press a sufficient length of time it is removed and its three members separated from each other. If the stopper sticks in theintermediate member, it may be readily pushed out of the chamber 13. If the upper end of the stud sticks in the pocket or recess 1 1, the introduction of a suitable tool will push it out. It is to be understood, however, that in carrying out assess my process it is not always necessary to em-' ploy a mold member 10 having the pocket or recess formed as a hole extending through said member, although it is often more convenient to have said recess so formed. It is also tobe understood that I do not limit myself to assembling the members of the mold in the position shown in Fig. 1, since they might be assembled With the members standing vertically instead 0 horizontally or even with the member 10 up ermost, rovided the stud be in such position that its ange 19 acts as a valve to completely seal the entrance to the pocket or recess to prevent the plastic material from escaping past it into the pocket or recess 11.

Having thus described my invention, I claim j 1. The process of making a stopper having a metal stud projecting from the body thereof, consisting in molding plastic material upon one end of the stud, and completely preventing the assage of plastic material to the other end o the stud.

2. The process of making a stopper having a plated metal stud projecting from the body thereof, consisting in molding plastic material upon one end'of the stud, and-completely preventing the passage of material to the other end of the stud.

3. The process of making a stop er having a plated metal stud provided ,wlth an enlargement at one end, consisting in molding plastic material upon the end. of the stud having the enlargement, and completely preventing the passage of material to the other end of the stud.

4. The process of making a stopper having a plated metal stud projecting from the body thereof, consisting in fitting a stud having a flange to a mold having a pocket until the flange com. letely seals the mouth of said pocket, an then molding a mass of plastic material on the end of the stud pro ecting from said pocket.

- 5. The process of making a'sto per having a metal stud projecting from the fiody thereof, consisting in molding a mass of plastic compound upon one endof the stud, and comletely preventing the said compound from eing forced out of the mold upon the outer end of the stud during the molding operation. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY C. FRESHQUR. 

